At our GDTA Spotlight session on May 23rd, 2023, we welcomed Guido Caicedo, Executive Director of i3lab, Dr. Sharon Guamán-Quintanilla, Academic Coordinator, and Isabel Alcívar, Lecturer and Design Thinking Facilitator. They discussed about “Turning freshmen into DThinkers.”
In this spotlight, the experience of ESPOL University (Ecuador) in implementing a mandatory design thinking course for all freshmen students were presented. The session included the story behind the decision to create this course as part of the curriculum, challenges faced, lessons learned, how it is currently taught, and the results of its application on students’ skills (problem-solving, creativity, and teamwork).
Guido Caicedo is a professor of engineering and entrepreneurship at ESPOL. He has an M.Sc. in Computer Science and a Postgraduate Certificate in Technology Commercialization from the University of Texas at Austin and ESPOL. His extensive experience and knowledge have allowed him to lead teams of technology companies that have developed services on online platforms. As an entrepreneur, he co-founded two Internet security companies and was a product manager for another company that marketed the first secure online credit card platform and the first electronic magazine distribution platform in Latin America. He has spent around 18 years helping other entrepreneurs develop and boost their businesses. His mantra is Create Value Now.
Sharon Guamán has a PhD in Business Economics and Educational Sciences, a degree obtained from the University of Ghent (Belgium). The subject of her doctoral thesis and her research products have been focused on the specialized analysis of the Design Thinking methodology on the development of 21st century skills among university students. She works as academic coordinator at i3lab-ESPOL and has been a university professor for more than 6 years in the areas of projects, innovation, and entrepreneurship. She has also been a facilitator of workshops in the areas mentioned above for private and public, national, and international institutions.
Isabel Alcívar is dedicated to improve work systems. She is a professor for the Industrial Engineering program & i3lab at ESPOL. She teaches courses on Design Thinking, Ergonomics and Process Optimization. Her professional and research interests lie at the intersection of Industrial Engineering and Design Thinking: particularly, how design thinking contributes to design better engineering solutions for manufacturing & service processes, and to develop essential skills. She also works with student clubs to promote creative acts in undergraduate students. She holds a MS in Management Science & Engineering from Stanford University (USA) and BS in Industrial Engineering from ESPOL (Ecuador).
At our GDTA Spotlight session on July 29th, Hoda Mostafa and Reham Niazi from the The American University in Cairo as well as Richard Perez, Phuthehi Masilo and Lucille Roberts from the Hasso Plattner School of Design Thinking at UCT talked about “Building a global virtual d-school: Co-creation and collaboration”.
At our GDTA Spotlight session on October 21th, Joann Halpern guided us through a “Designing Your Life” workshop, which has been adapted from Bill Burnett and Dave Evans’ book on this subject.
In a discussion with GDTA President Uli Weinberg, Richard Perez, Founding Director of the Hasso Plattner School of Design Thinking (d-school) at the University of Cape Town, and Faculty Members Luke Doman and Mark Jackson talked about how they adapted their programs during Covid-19, using technology that is accessible for all students, and shared their vision for the future of the d-school at UCT.
At this GDTA session on June 15, 2021, Alejandro Rodriguez, Associate Director for Industrial Design Department at Tecnológico de Monterrey, and his team talked about “Education and Design Thinking: How Tecnológico de Monterrey is applying Design Thinking across all their campus, education and innovation.”
The Global Design Thinking Alliance, in collaboration with the IEEE Standards Association and Vienna University of Economics and Business, invited you to the GDTA Spotlight Special Edition “Value-Based Engineering in Design Thinking,” which took place on March 10th, 2022, from 9:00-11:30 am (EST) / 3:00-5:30 pm (CET) via Zoom.
In a discussion with GDTA president Prof. Uli Weinberg and other GDTA members, Linlin Shui, Head of the Design Thinking Innovation Center at the Communication University of China (CUC), shared impressions from China during the Covid-19 pandemic and explained how CUC build a prototype for an online Design Thinking course in only two weeks.
In this session, Jeanne Liedtka, United Technologies Corporation Professor of Business Administration, University of Virginia – Darden School of Business, discussed her upcoming book “Experiencing Design: The Innovator’s Journey”.
Transform with Design presents examples of creative organizations across industries and geographies, and recounts the stories of how they adapted design thinking to build their innovation capabilities. Written by leading industry experts and design-thinking scholars, the book features ten anecdotal experiences by professionals who detail the implementation of design thinking as it unfolded for them. Contributors share how they navigated the many barriers and obstacles they encountered along the way and describe their experience from early beginnings to the present, revealing valuable lessons for anyone who finds themselves in a similar situation.
Western University is a large, public university in Canada with 11 faculties and schools. Since 2013, they have slowly built up the presence of Design Thinking across the university.
In this session, Dr. Assaf Krebs, Dr. Yigal David, and Daniel Altman of GDTA member institution Shenkar College of Engineering, Design and Art talked about: “Intermediate spaces – Two perspectives on engineering, design, Design Thinking, and life itself. From Sound Engineering to Human Surfaces”.
How can Design Thinking drive real change? Since 2015, Impact Week has evolved from a volunteer initiative into a thriving social enterprise, empowering communities, fostering skills, and sparking impactful social businesses.
Remember the experiments and challenges you faced while starting a new project? Before 2019, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu didn’t dream a small idea would turn into so many new research projects, competitions to encourage students to innovate and the first D-School in Romania.
Design Thinking has been reshaping the minds of many students and professionals globally for the past 20 years and is fast becoming the winning mindset that drives innovation and solutions to complex problems of our time. The mindset has seen major support from academia and professional networks with some great expansion over the years.
In our session held via zoom on February 17th, 2022 at 3:30 pm (CET) / 9:30 am (EST), we welcomed our speaker Jeanne Liedtka from UVA Darden School of Business.
At our online session on May 18, 2021 Matt Parkinson, Professor and Director of The Learning Factory, College of Engineering at Penn State University, and Jessica Menold, Assistant Professor of Engineering Design at Penn State University, talked about the Design Thinking process that contributed to the development of a new university building, dedicated to Design Thinking and prototyping.
The last online session took place on November 21st, 2023, at 3:00 p.m. (CET). We welcomed our speaker, Can Güvenir, Design Manager and lecturer at Yaşar University.